Thailand TEFL

The idea of doing the TEFL course came about while I was on my travels last year. So many people I spoke to were, or knew of someone teaching English and it seemed like a good way to combine travel, immerse yourself in a culture and community and earn some money in the process. It was only when I was flying home after my 5 and a half months of travelling around SE Asia that I read an article saying 'why do the course in grey cold Britain when it can be taken in hot sunny Thailand'. And of course there is the added bonus of getting to do the practical teaching lessons within a Thai school with Thai children who are learning English, perfect!
That is what I wanted to write about, the schools and the children.
Twice a week during the course my group of 12 leave at 7.50am for any one of 8 schools to teach a one hour lesson.
Within our groups of 3 we teach a lesson each to different classes of different ages. And so, we get the experience of teaching our own lesson, and also to watch 2 of our peers and learn from them (or not as the case may be).
It is a tough morning for all of us as we have had to plan the lesson the day before that has often taken well into the late evening.
Only one of the group has ever taught before and many of us have not had children of our own so it is a tough gig to find yourself in a totally new situation faced with up to 22 children who are waiting to learn, and in addition, there is the matter of keeping them interested and disciplining them. Thai children in general are good kids, they are very mild mannered compared to children back home and they stay children until they are 16 in that the girls all still wear ankle socks and flat shoes, none of them wear make up and they all have their hair tied in ribbons. The boys are more interested in messing around and there is a lot of prodding one another, especially when one is trying to speak in English. It's hard not to laugh when I have got one of them standing to dialogue with me and one of his mates pokes a pencil in his backside!
They do not wander around at night in menacing packs and fashion is far from their mind, they are simply being children and having fun.
Some of the government schools are better than others while some are in desperate need of a lick of paint and new furniture.
On my second assignment I found myself teaching in an open air place, it had a ceiling and floor but no walls. As it never was intended to be a classroom there were no facilities, the children sat in an arc on the floor and I had to make do with a white board balanced on 2 chairs that had me crouching down to write on, it was a sixth of the size of the one we have at our learning classroom and so I had to improvise and erase as I went.
When I spoke of this to my tutor later he said it was good practice as some schools in some countries may not even have a black board and a stick in the sand is often as good as it gets!
The school I went to this week was definitely in need of some tlc but the atmosphere was lovely and there were some beautiful children running around no older than 4 years of age.
The grounds were fairly large and, as usual the children were not being supervised, instead, running free over rubble (there was a big Buddha being built in the grounds), climbing trees and at lunch time many of them were sitting just about any where eating their lunch.
It seems so alien to witness the freedom that these children have as I am conditioned into the 'nanny state' that we now have While I am sure accidents do happen here from time to time, I think that we protect our kids far too much and have gone too far in protecting them, I believe they are not even allowed to play with conkers on string any more?
One of the first lessons we had on the course was of Thai traditions, culture and what is not acceptable. Some of these have to be taken into the classroom.
As the sole of the foot is the lowest part of the body it is considered dirty (and for the most they are due to wearing flip flops or barefoot) and so, pointing with your foot is an absolute no no. If the children are sitting on the floor in class for example it would be very disrespectful to push a pencil or piece of paper towards a student with my foot.
The Thais never want to 'lose face' in that they will not shout or lose their temper in the street, make themselves or others look foolish, they mainly look out for one another. In the classroom, we must be careful not to tell a child he/she is wrong or humiliate them in front of their peers, instead tell them it's not right but was a good try. The children will always help one another if they are struggling with a question.
If you ask any one (including Police) directions, they won't say they don't know, instead lead you the wrong way, this one can be bloody annoying, I would rather they lose face than send me on a wild goose chase in the heat of the day!
Dress code is strict in that revealing or see through items of clothing are never worn by women unless they are 'bar girls' you just don't see girls/women with flesh on show apart from their legs and their arms below a short sleeve. They never display their cleavage, (not that many have one as they are all so tiny) and us would be teachers have to dress accordingly.
The King is highly revered here, indeed it is a punishable offence to disrespect him in any way, therefore it is best not to mention him in case it is misconstrued. If you drop a coin on the floor, it would be considered very bad to stamp on it as in effect you are stamping on the Kings head.
The longer I am in the country the more I enjoy it,  away from the  main tourist areas the locals are friendly, accommodating and happy to chat with you.  I guess the weather has a lot to do with the overall ambience of the place, people smile and are relaxed, never hurrying. Activities are taken outdoors, the streets are constantly full of people eating from the hundreds of street vendors that line the roads. Most of the homes are only really used for sleeping and the indoor living space is minimal as living is done outside, even the rice cookers and gas rings over calorgas containers are in an outside porch.
The whole experience is really very interesting.